Walking Dead season 4 'Infected' recap: The prison family breaks down

Warning: This article contains spoilers that some readers may prefer to avoid.

Patrick's transformation into a walker in last week's season premiere was distinctly lacking in bite - pun fully intended - so The Walking Dead's latest offering not only has to deal with the consequences of placing a rabid zombie within the walls of the prison, but also with the implications of what his unusual demise means for the show's cast of characters in the long run...

That said, the episode starts out a slow burn, with Chad L Coleman's Tyreese being afforded a little emotional development - his girlfriend Karen (Melissa Ponzio) starts to serve as a sounding board, which helps reveal hitherto unseen sides to a character who's always had to play the strong, stoic leader-type in the past.

It's unfortunate then, that their blossoming relationship surely spells her imminent doom. No-one's allowed to be happy in The Walking Dead - because that would be *boring*.

Steven Yeun's once vital and interesting Glenn, for instance, remains a lovesick dullard this week, snapping pictures of a sleeping Maggie (Lauren Cohan) - alright, so they went through the ringer last season and incessant misery can grow tiresome too, but any time their domestic bliss fills the screen, I found myself itching for a walker siege.

Thankfully it ain't long before Patrick's rising puts pay to all the pleasantries and while, as Walking Dead zombie rages go, the attack on the prison in 'Infected' is fairly brief and unspectacular - culling only a few faceless prison newcomers - it's the aftermath of the attack that's really important.

Last week's twist - and this season's new threat - is expounded upon, as a makeshift prison council decide to establish a quarantine to prevent the spreading of a sickness that'll finish you off as sure as any zombie bite.

And while I found it hard to invest in the tale of dying Johnny New Pants and his devastated daughters, this subplot does shed interesting new light on the character of Carol (Melissa McBride). Branding a little girl who's just lost her father "weak" feels uncharacteristically cold, until you realize that Carol's still feeling the long-term impact of losing Sophia.

I'd always felt it did the character a disservice having her seemingly get over her daughter's death so quickly - but clearly the loss has taken its toll and now Carol, as first evidenced last week, is looking to transform youngsters into warriors, to see them spared Sophia's fate.

But while keeping the survivors on lock-down for two weeks has its benefits - Tyreese, Carol and Carl (Chandler Riggs) all benefit from the breathing space - it also has some drawbacks. At times, 'Infected' feels a little limited in scope and lacking in action.

So while I've been happy to dwell at the prison these two weeks, let's hope that the title of next week's installment - 'Isolation' - isn't indicative of its content. If Rick and company don't venture beyond that chain-link fence pretty soon, there's a danger that my interest could start to waver.

- This week's visceral nastiness includes a walker ripping the throat out of a sleeping man with his teeth and said victim's guts spilling from his abdomen, plus one literal eye-popping moment.- That said, Rick slicing up the poor squealing piggies and serving them up to the walkers was by far the most harrowing sequence in this episode...- What's with Michonne (Danai Gurira) not wanting to hold baby Judith? Either way, it's refreshing to see the character being given a greater range to play this year - you can remain kick-ass without being a complete emotional shut-off.- In its second week, the new season of The Walking Dead poses two big thinkers. Who's been feeding vermin to vermin - the rats to the walkers, and who took it upon themselves to burn the infected survivors?